<p>I have received my financial aid award letter from the college I plan on attending in the fall. You see, they're not giving me much money. I will be receiving $11,050 for the 2010-11 academic year. Although I have many scholarships lined up to apply for and have applied to many others, should I go forth with applying for private student loans or should I wait until I receive word on the results of the scholarships? I ask, because the tuition and fees for the fall semester is due August 2nd, and I'm not sure how long the loan process takes. Also, it looks as though with tuition, fees, personal expenses, etc. it will cost about $45,000 for the next academic year.</p>
<p>If you are a traditional student (18-21) I highly doubt you will able to secure that amount of money for your freshman year let alone each year for the full 4 years of college all by yourself. Have you discussed this with your parent(s)? Are the scholarships one year or renewable for multiple years? Does your aid package have Stafford loans already part of the package? Is this a FAFSA school or a private school using institutional financial aid forms?</p>
<p>*I will be receiving $11,050 for the 2010-11 academic year. Although I have many scholarships lined up to apply for and have applied to many others, should I go forth with applying for private student loans … Also, it looks as though with tuition, fees, personal expenses, etc. it will cost about $45,000 for the next academic year. *</p>
<p>Ok…this is a VERY BAD idea, and it won’t likely work.</p>
<p>Momofthreeboys is right. No one is going to lend you that much money, AND there’s a reason for that. You wouldn’t be able to afford to pay it back. You would need co-signers who could QUALIFY to borrow large amounts 4 years in a row. Hard to get and not usually a good idea for the co-signer.</p>
<p>Do you have ANY idea what the repayments of such loans amounts would be?</p>
<p>Since college prices go up every year, you’re talking about borrowing about $35k per year (about $140k total). That is a ridiculous amount. RIDICULOUS.</p>
<p>The monthly payments would be something like:</p>
<pre><code>Loan Balance: $140,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $140,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 8.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 10 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00
Monthly Loan Payment: $1,758.34 For ten LONG years!
Number of Payments: 120
Cumulative Payments: $211,001.35
Total Interest Paid: $71,001.35
</code></pre>
<p>Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 119 payments of $1,758.34 plus a final payment of $1,758.89.</p>
<p>It is estimated that** you will need an annual salary of at least $211,000.80 **to be able to afford to repay this loan.</p>
<p>What is your major and likely career?</p>
<p>What other schools did you apply to? This school is NOT affordable in any way. (Do you see how much you’d need to be earning soon after graduation to be able to afford this loan?</p>
<p>No bank is going to loan you this amount. And for someone to qualify as a co-signer for 4 years of these loans, the bank is going to expect that they, too, make a LOT of money (at least $150k per year) and have excellent credit.</p>
<p>And, it’s highly unlikely that the private scholarships will make much of a dent in any of this…especially after the first year. Most of these scholarships are small and for one year only, and many only first year freshmen can apply for them.</p>
<p>Well, my mom makes about 170K a year, and I did not attend to apply for this loan by myself.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>So, will your mom be paying these loans back? If not, it’s still a bad idea. </p>
<p>BTW…how much is your mom contributing each year? It doesn’t like she’s contributing much at all if you’re having to borrow so much. Why isn’t she paying for most/all of your college costs?</p>
<p>You’ll have about $30k in Stafford loans on top of $140k in personal loans. That’s $170k in loans for undergrad. That’s outrageous and I don’t anyone on this forum would support that idea. </p>
<p>You’re talking about having $2000 a month student loans for 10 years. Do you plan on living at home for 10 years after you graduate and use your rent money for your loan? If so, what will you do if you can’t find a job near your mom’s home?</p>
<p>What is your major and likely career goal?</p>
<p>BTW…if your mom can’t afford to pay back your loans with an income of $170k, why would you think that you could with a salary much, much, much lower?</p>
<p>I too hope that you’re not planning to fund the entire balance with loans that you are responsible for…but I don’t think you specified that in your original post. Your mom should begin researching funding options now so she can advise you on this - if she has excellent credit she may be able to find a low interest loan. She may also decide to participate in your school’s tuition payment plan which is generally interest free. Otherwise, your options are a Stafford loan ($5500 max for the first year, fixed interest of 6.8% for unsubsidized loans) and a Parent Plus loan (8.5% fixed rate). Both of these can be found on your school’s website and are processed fairly rapidly. Private loans may take longer…check with the lender!</p>
<p>So, will your mom be paying these loans back? If not, it’s still a bad idea. </p>
<p>BTW…how much is your mom contributing each year? It doesn’t like she’s contributing much at all if you’re having to borrow so much. Why isn’t she paying for most/all of your college costs?</p>
<p>You’ll have about $30k in Stafford loans on top of $140k in personal loans. That’s $170k in loans for undergrad. That’s outrageous and I don’t anyone on this forum would support that idea. </p>
<p>You’re talking about having $2000 a month student loans for 10 years. Do you plan on living at home for 10 years after you graduate and use your rent money for your loan? If so, what will you do if you can’t find a job near your mom’s home?</p>
<p>What is your major and likely career goal?</p>
<p>BTW…if your mom can’t afford to pay back your loans with an income of $170k, why would you think that you could with a salary much, much, much lower? </p>
<hr>
<p>1.) I never mentioned how much I intended to borrow.
2.) The money I received from the college is my financial aid award.
3.) I can cover personal expenses, fees, and transportation expenses.
My mother isn’t paying for most or all of my college costs, because she owns a home, and has other expenses.
Also, although my parents are divorced, my father plans on contributing. He makes 150K a year.
BTW, my question was WHEN I should begin applying? Not whether I can qualify.</p>
<p>well, you can start looking at loans now…</p>
<p>Your parents have a combined income of over $300k and yet they can’t pay for your college costs because of their own expenses. So, keep in mind that if with such a high income they can’t afford to pay for all your expenses, it will be hard for you to pay your own post-college personal expenses and make loan payments when earning a small fraction of what they’re earning. </p>
<p>Are you applying for any Stafford loans? If not, why not?</p>
<p>I never said they couldn’t pay for my college because they have other expenses. I stated that they don’t plan on paying most or all of my college expenses, because they have other factors to consider.</p>
<p>Well, that’s really about the same thing. There’s no point on arguing over semantics. </p>
<p>Are you applying for any Stafford loans?</p>
<p>Hey Bella,
I know it sounds like people are attacking you on this forum, but I think it’s just misplaced anger that your parents could be screwing you over pretty badly. I don’t think anyone means to attack you – you’re the victim here.</p>
<p>Whatever their reasons (which you obviously don’t want to discuss on a public forum) parents with a combined income of $300K are not doing the right thing by not making major contributions to their child’s college education. (Just my humble opinion – I actually do think kids should contribute something to their own education. Just not take life destroying loans…)</p>